Snow and Mistletoe
by Mrs. 11th
Summary: Modern AU. Marlene just wanted a quiet Christmas with her family, but an odd misunderstanding leads to herself and Dorcas becoming the physical embodiment of "fake-relationship trope." As Marlene is hopelessly in love with Dorcas, who seems to have no clue, this won't be an easy task.


**Happy New Year! Pls enjoy Dorcas and Marlene's Christmas and New Years hijinks, as well as them being very dumb :)**

* * *

 **December 23** **rd** **, 2015**

"Dorcas!" Marlene argued, exasperated. She put a hand on her forehead, regretting it immediately when she realized that her hand smelled like the tomatoes she was chopping for dinner. They'd had this conversation three times today. "You _cannot_ put a picture of Amy Winehouse on top of our tree."

"But _Marlene,_ she's an _angel._ You can't tell me that she's not an angel!" Dorcas pleaded, a shiny photo of the singer in question in her small hands. Standing in front of their small-ish Christmas tree, Dorcas, who stood at 5'1," only an inch taller than their tree, finally looked like she wasn't tiny. The thought would've made Marlene laugh, if she wasn't preoccupied with chopping vegetables for their dinner.

Marlene sighed heavily as she scooped up a handful of quartered baby tomatoes and sprinkled them around the pizza. "That may be the case, but –" Marlene's parents' custom ringtone on their landline phone cut Marlene off. "Cas, can you get that please? My hands are all tomato-y. Oh, and can you tell Mum that I won't be bringing Janine? I haven't got around to telling her that we broke up yet, even if it was, like, months ago."

"Sure thing, Marley!" Dorcas picked up the phone with a chipper greeting as she placed the glossy picture of Amy on one of the higher branches of the tree, leaving the gold star on top of the tree in its place. Marlene shot a happy smile at her.

"Yeah, Abigail, we're still coming up tomorrow! Our train should get in at 4:18pm or somewhere around that time." Dorcas wandered into her bedroom, but Marlene could still hear Dorcas's side of the conversation quite clearly with her bedroom door open.

"I'm _so_ excited, I can't wait to see everyone again." … "Of course, I missed you! All of you! You're my family as much as– as much as my parents were." …

Marlene smiled sadly at that. Dorcas's mum had died when she was eight, and her father when she was thirteen, and she'd come to live with Marlene's family after that. At least, during holidays, as they'd both gone to the same Scottish boarding school for most of their school years, where they'd roomed together. They had then gone to the same university, Lancaster, and lived next door to each other in their residence hall. Now they ran a small bookshop together in Tenby, a little Welsh seaside town, and lived above it together. Being 26 now, and having known Dorcas since they were both 11, Marlene came again to the common thought they they'd almost never been apart for as long as they'd known each other.

Maybe that was why Marlene found herself in love with her best friend.

At that thought, Marlene squeezed her eyes shut and put the knife and red onion down. She blamed the onion for the tears in her eyes, which she quickly blinked away. To take her mind off of the turn of her thoughts, she tuned back into Dorcas's conversation with her mum and finished up chopping the onion.

"Yeah, about that actually… You remember how Marley said she'd be bringing her girlfriend home for Christmas?" … "Well–" … "Wait, Abigail –" … "No, that's not –" … "Yes, I love you too, but I'm not –"

Marlene's heartbeat sped up a bit. What had happened? Dorcas's voice had risen in that way it did when she was stressed, and that was never a good sign. Marlene sprinkled all the onion bits over the pizza and popped it into the oven, setting the timer for fifteen minutes. She turned around to see Dorcas walk out of her bedroom calmly, the phone clutched tightly between her hands.

"Cas, what –"

"Your mum thinks we're dating," Dorcas reported casually as she put the landline phone back into its cradle.

Marlene's blood ran cold. _"Why?"_

Dorcas sighed and flopped down onto the couch. "I started to tell her that you weren't bringing what's-her-face, and she assumed that by _my_ telling her about you and your girlfriend that I _am_ your girlfriend and we'd just been hiding it from her or something. She hung up before I could get a word in!" Dorcas threw her hands into the air, in a _what could I do?_ gesture.

Marlene sighed and trudged over to the couch, in the four steps out of the kitchen, stepping around the circular dinner table in the middle of the kitchen which was only used when they had company, and to their living room area. Their flat really _was_ tiny, as Sirius so often said.

Marlene fell into the couch beside Dorcas, who promptly snuggled into Marlene and laid her head on Marlene's shoulder. Marlene exhaled shakily and tried to calm her quickly beating heart.

"If I call again, she'll just chatter on more," Dorcas reasoned. "Could you call her back? Give her a minute to calm down though," Dorcas laughed, and Marlene couldn't help but join in.

Marlene nodded. "Yeah. I'll call her in a second." Marlene prayed that the conversation would be over then, as she did _not_ want to think about what it _would_ be like to actually date Dorcas. She wasn't so lucky.

"Why would she think we're _dating_ though?" Dorcas wondered, a pensive look on her face as she stared at their intensely decorated Christmas tree. Marlene chose to stare at the ceiling and ask God or Santa or whoever why he would do this to her when she'd been a fairly good girl all year. Why why why.

"Oh," Marlene forced a nonchalant tone while she screamed internally, "I dunno. I guess we've been friends for long enough. We're as close as two people can get without dating. Plus, she's my mum. She just _assumes_."

"Yeah, you're right. It's like that time she thought Sirius and James were dating." Dorcas smiled at the memory.

Marlene snorted. "Fuck, that was funny. Lily just about came out of her skin, laughing so hard, especially since she was pregnant and all at the time."

Dorcas snuggled further into Marlene's side and linked their arms. "God, _Remus_ was laughing hardest of all."

"Mum was so confused when she found out they weren't, especially since they'd played along with it. They're insane."

"They'll probably think this is even funnier!"

Marlene forced a chuckle. "God, yeah. Anyway," she untangled herself from Dorcas and reached for the landline before falling back to the couch, slightly farther away from Dorcas this time, "I'll call her back and tell her the truth. She's probably chilled out by now."

"M'kay, I'll go check on the pizza," Dorcas stood and bounded towards the kitchen. She disappeared behind the counter that separated the kitchen from the living room as she squatted in front of the oven to watch their food cook, like some contestant on _Great British Bake Off_. Marlene would never understand her fascination with watching food _cook._ It was like watching water boil.

Marlene shook her head of the thought and dialed her parents' number from memory.

Her mother picked up on the second ring.

"Marlene, darling!" She sounded breathless, like she'd been running around the house _telling everyone that her daughter was dating Dorcas._ Shit. "You have no _clue_ how happy I am for you! For both of you! Oh, I knew this day would come, I just knew it. I've seen how you both look at each other since you were teenagers, and I _knew_ it would happen eventually!"

"Mum, listen, Dorcas and I–"

"Oh, I know, don't worry darling, I know why you didn't tell me, because you were worried how we'd react, but you didn't need to be!"

"No, that's the thing, Mum, there's nothing to tell –"

"I know, you girls have basically been dating since you moved in together. I should've known then, you know! Oh! Your father's calling me, I need to go, darling. And he's so happy for you! And your brothers too! We all knew, darling. Oh, this just made our Christmas. It really did, darling. Love to both of you, see you tomorrow, darling!"

Marlene hung up, not quite knowing what had just happened.

The oven timer beeped. Dorcas took the pizza out of the oven and deposited it on top of the stove. "That didn't sound like it went too well."

"No shit, Cas. Anything I say at this point, she'll just say I'm backtracking… or something." Marlene slumped further into the couch. "And she's told my dad and all my brothers. Fucks sake, Mum." Marlene put her hands to her face, then took them away when she realized that she hadn't washed them after chopping vegetables, and they still smelled of tomato, onion, pepper, and garlic. Marlene rose to wash her hands, stepping around Dorcas as she reached up to pull two plates from the cupboard. Her outstretched arms caused her tee shirt to ride up, exposing a strip of tanned skin. Marlene blushed slightly and turned away, washing her hands with soap and water that was just a bit too hot.

Dorcas fanned the pizza with an oven mitt. Her stomach growled audibly. Marlene laughed lightly and hoisted herself up onto the counter beside the sink. She narrowly missed jamming her tailbone into the toaster.

"What if we just don't tell her?" Dorcas asked curiously, an odd look on her face.

"Don't tell her what?"

"Don't tell her we aren't dating." Satisfied with the pizza's temperature, Dorcas grabbed the pizza cutter and started cutting four equal slices.

Marlene felt a familiar sinking feeling in her gut, the one she always got when Dorcas was about to drag her into an _adventure_ which usually just ended in a few good pictures and a fair amount of panic. Even though she was quite sure that she knew what Dorcas was going to say, she asked anyway. "What do you mean?"

"I mean," Dorcas said purposefully as she served two slices of pizza to each plate, "that maybe we should just _pretend_ we _are_ dating. Your mum was _so_ excited, and I'd hate to ruin that for her. She'll be in a good mood for all of Christmas, even when one of your brothers inevitably breaks something."

"Cas," Marlene replied with wide eyes, her heart rate already starting to rise, "other than that being _weird,_ how would handle them thinking we're dating _after_ Christmas?"

"Oh, we'll just tell them we've broken up," Dorcas handed Marlene her plate and headed to the couch to sit. She didn't quite meet Marlene's eyes as she did so, instead choosing to edge around her before taking her place on the far left side of the couch. Marlene chose the far right. "That dating was a bit of an experiment or something or other. We've known each other for years, and we wanted to see what it was like. C'mon, Marley," Dorcas finally looked up at Marlene and laughed. "It'd be like a game of pretend. It'd be fun! And we can tell them it was all an elaborate joke afterwards, if you want."

Never one to say no to Dorcas, Marlene sighed, "Alright, fine."

Dorcas squealed happily and picked up the television remote from the coffee table before putting her feet up where the remote had been. She pressed play, and _Love Actually_ picked up at the beginning of Peter and Juliet's wedding.

Marlene watched the film without really seeing and ate her pizza without really tasting, worry for Dorcas's very strange plan filling her thoughts entirely.

* * *

After the movie had ended and Dorcas had gone to take a shower in the bathroom that connected their bedrooms, which also happened to be the only bathroom in their flat, Marlene cleaned up the kitchen and phoned James and Lily, her two friends who were least likely to laugh at her situation. However, "least likely" did not mean that they wouldn't laugh at all.

Marlene could hear James distantly laughing hard enough to break something. Lily simply snorted.

"Don't you think this is _weird?_ " Marlene asked. "I mean, she's always got crazy ideas, but…" Marlene trailed off, not knowing how to transmit her feelings, which can mostly accurately be summed up as "?"

"I mean," she continued, "this really is just confirmation that she only sees me as a friend. Who would pretend-date someone they _actually_ fancy?"

" _I think you underestimate her_ ," Lily replied. _"Dorcas is dramatic. She's all about grand gestures and elaborate plans. Don't give up hope, Marls."_

Marlene huffed. "I dunno. She's _always_ been so friendly and touchy with me. With everyone. Now that we live and work together, it _has_ amplified, but that's just because we rarely see you guys. We don't have any really good friends around here, so there's no one she feels comfortable latching onto."

" _Well, if you can survive Christmas, we'll all be together for New Years. Things will go back to normal once the gang is back together."_

Marlene laughed. "Did you just say _gang?_ "

" _Hey, at least I didn't say_ squad _, which is what James always calls us."_

" _WE HAVE TO SQUAD UP, EVANS,"_ James shouted distantly. _"YOU CAN'T SQUAD UP IF THERE'S NO SQUAD."_

" _QUIT SHOUTING AND BATHE OUR SON,"_ Lily replied. Marlene jumped in surprise and held the phone away from her ear.

The sound of running water shut off, which meant that Dorcas was done in the shower. Marlene could no longer speak privately with Lily, as the size of the flat meant that you could hear almost everything almost everywhere.

"Okay, Cas is out of the shower so I've got to go. Talk later?"

 _"Yeah, 'course!"_

"Kiss Harry for me, tell him that Auntie Marley misses him."

" _Aww, I will. He's been asking after you, since I told him about Moony and Padfoot's New Years party. All he wants to know is when he'll see you and Dorcas again. I think he likes you and Cassie better than he likes James and me."_

"As he should."

Lily laughed loudly.

"I love you."

" _Love you too, Marls. Good luck!"_

"Huh, thanks. Bye, Lils."

" _Bye, babe."_

As Marlene hung up, Dorcas came out of her bedroom in her treasured cat onesie. Her long, dark brown hair was still damp and hung down over her left shoulder, curling at the bottom.

"Who's on the phone?" She asked as she pulled her hood up. A pair of fluffy cat ears blocked her eyes for a moment, before she moved the hood back a couple of inches.

"Lily," Marlene answered. "Just chatting for a minute while James had Harry in the bath."

Dorcas laid out on the couch, her back against the armrest. "Aw, I miss him. Harry, not James. I mean, I miss them all, but I miss Harry most. When can we kidnap him again?"

Marlene picked Dorcas's feet up so that she could sit on the couch, then put Dorcas's feet back in her lap and laid her hands on Dorcas's onesie covered legs.

"He's in school now," Marlene explained with a small laugh, "so we can't just kidnap him anymore. We'll have to wait til summer."

"Harry's in school?" Dorcas asked, faking incredulity. "Since when is he in school?"

Marlene laughed harder; Dorcas joined in.

"So," said Dorcas, after she had finished laughing, "are you all packed?" She gave Marlene a knowing look that said, _I know you haven't packed yet but I have which means that I'll get to laugh at you rushing tomorrow morning._

"No." Marlene stuck her tongue out at Dorcas. "I'll pack tomorrow morning."

"Marley," Dorcas gave Marlene a pointed look, "our train leaves at 9:40. That means we need to be there _on the platform_ by 9:30, or else both of us will start to get anxious, so we need to be out of the house by 9:15. To eat breakfast and pack, you need to be up by 8am."

Marlene leaned her against the back of the couch as Dorcas talked, used to her exact planning of their travel days, the one thing in their lives that Dorcas would actually plan rather than just make spur-of-the-moment decisions. It helped her anxiety and Marlene's immensely to have their hectic travel days planned out down to the minute.

Both girls had fairly severe anxiety, but each one's fears manifested in very different ways. Marlene's anxiety prevented her from acting, kept her locked away inside their bookstore. Dorcas's anxiety pushed her to conquer her fears, thus she often ventured out and explored new places around Tenby, despite the fact that they'd stayed in the little town together every summer after Dorcas came to live with the McKinnons.

"Marlene, did you hear a word I said?" Dorcas lifted one of her legs and poked Marlene's stomach with her big toe.

"Yep!" Marlene sat up again. "Need to be up by 8 if I want to eat and pack. Gotcha, Cas."

Dorcas pulled her legs up to her chest and wrapped her arms around them, resting her chin on top of her knees.

For a long moment, Dorcas and Marlene only stared at each other. With a short, quiet laugh, Marlene broke away first, standing and stretching her back before turning around to face Dorcas.

"If I go shower and blow-dry my hair, would that bother you?" Marlene asked. "You look like you're going to bed soon."

"Nah, I can sleep through anything." Dorcas shot a bright smile at Marlene before she stood. "Night, Marley, love you." Standing about six inches shorter than Marlene, she had to get up on her tip toes to press a light kiss to Marlene's cheeks. Dorcas quickly turned on her heel and strode to her room, while Marlene stood on the same spot, cheeks burning.

After Dorcas turned to blow one more kiss at Marlene before she shut her bedroom door, Marlene exhaled and whispered, "Love you too, Cas."

* * *

 **December 24** **th** **, 2015**

Marlene forgot to set an alarm before going to sleep, but Dorcas woke her up just past 8am, saving the day.

Marlene groaned and pulled the covers over her head. "Don't want to."

"Yes, you do. You want to see your parents. You want to see your brothers." Dorcas, already dressed in black leggings, black knee-high boots, a white dress shirt, and a light pink, thick knit jumper over her blouse so that the peter pan collar peaked out, pulled the heavy blankets off of Marlene, causing the girl to shout in surprise at the sudden cold and curl up.

"Cute underwear," Dorcas noted with a slight tilt of her head. Marlene's eyes shot open, and she grabbed at the blankets at her feet, pulling them up to her shoulders to cover her red, penguin-covered bikini underwear and black tank top.

"Can you pop some bread in the toaster for me while I get dressed please, Cas?" Marlene asked, her cheeks pinking slightly.

With a small smirk, Dorcas nodded and left Marlene's room, shutting the door behind her.

Marlene huffed and jumped out of bed, shivering as soon as her bare feet touched the hardwood floor. Because of the painfully high price, Marlene and Dorcas didn't heat their flat much, saving the heating for the extremely cold January days and the bookshop downstairs. Marlene and Dorcas preferred to just bundle up under multiple layers and fuzzy socks.

Thinking of fuzzy socks, Marlene pulled a pair of black glittery fuzzy socks on before shedding her black tank top in favor of a white bra, a dark green tank top, light wash high waist jeans, and a navy blue Christmas jumper with alternating lines of white snowflakes and silver Christmas trees.

Marlene left her room when she heard the toaster pop and rushed to butter her toast while it was still warm so the butter would melt properly. When Marlene turned around with her plate of toast, Dorcas held a mug of tea out to her. Marlene smiled happily and thanked her.

Marlene ate quickly so that she could pack slowly, while Dorcas, who had packed the previous day and risen early, lounged on the couch with her tea and a worn copy of _Let It Snow_ by John Green, Maureen Johnson, and Lauren Myracle. An avid fan of YA fiction and Christmas-themed novels, she was on her third reread just in December. Marlene observed her quietly while she inhaled her toast and tea, then set off to her room to pack.

* * *

Despite the fact that Marlene and Dorcas would only been at Marlene's parents' house for six days, then at Sirius and Remus's for two days, it took far too long for Marlene to figure out what to pack. She ended up with a totally unsurprising end result of multiple pairs of jeans, Christmas jumpers, tank tops, fuzzy socks, her giraffe onesie, a pair of red plaid Christmas pajamas, a fancy outfit to wear for Sirius and Remus's New Years party, a few different pairs of shoes, and her thick winter coat.

Already by the door with her suitcase, Dorcas called to Marlene that they were going to be late.

Marlene pulled her dark green Doc Marten boots on over her fuzzy socks and laced them, tossed her toiletries into her suitcase, and zipped it hurriedly. She pulled her old leather jacket on over her Christmas jumper and ran out to meet Dorcas. One after the other, they tromped down the stairs into the bookshop, locking the door that lead to the stairs up, making sure that the sign on the door said "Closed" with a bit of paper taped to it that read "until the new year." Finally, they locked the door to their treasured bookshop, Query Books, and made the long walk to the Tenby train station.

Despite leaving a few minutes late, Marlene and Dorcas walked speedily and made it to the platform by 9:35am. They stood in the wind, letting the cold seep in as they knew the train would be stuffy and warm, until the train pulled in at 9:40.

Once they got in their seats, Marlene pulled out her phone to text her mother that they were officially on their way, and Dorcas pulled out her old iPod and pulled her up Christmas playlist. She stuck one earbud in her ear, then held the other out to Marlene, who smiled gratefully.

Dorcas pressed shuffle, _TV Christmas_ by Dog Is Dead started playing, and the two girls settled in for the train ride.

* * *

Three changes and almost seven hours later, Dorcas and Marlene de-trained at Kings Cross at 4:18pm with sighs of relief. After a short walk, they met with David and Abigail McKinnon, who embraced them tightly.

"I'm so happy for you girls," Abigail beamed at them.

For a moment, Marlene was confused, before she remembered the odd plan of Dorcas's– to pretend that they were dating so that they wouldn't ruin Abigail's Christmas or as a massive joke or something or other. Marlene felt her stomach drop anxiously as soon as she remembered, but she plastered on a smile that she hoped was convincing for her parents.

Dorcas, who apparently had not forgotten, was playing her part strangely well. She accepted the McKinnons praise and hugs with a flattering blush and some light laughs. Marlene just chuckled nervously and tried to calm the roaring in her ears, which only was accomplished when Dorcas wrapped one of her arms around Marlene's waist and squeezed. Marlene took a deep breath and shot a smile at her parents.

"It was just time, I guess," she lied with surprising ease. Dorcas's supporting arm around her waist gave her a strange confidence. "We've known each other for over half our lives, so I guess it was a bit inevitable."

Abigail practically melted with happiness; David had the same look of pride and elation on his face that he had when Marlene and Dorcas had graduated from Hogwarts, their Scottish boarding school, eight years ago, which was an odd thing to compare. Graduating vs a fake relationship. Marlene just wanted a cup of tea and to go to sleep.

"Abby, think we could talk more about this when we get home?" Dorcas asked, smiling prettily and pulling Marlene out of her thoughts. "It's been a long day."

"Of course!" Abigail agreed immediately. She took Dorcas's suitcase, David took Marlene's, and they led the way out of the station.

* * *

Upon entering the McKinnons' spacious London home, Dorcas and Marlene were assaulted with hugs by Marlene's five older brothers.

All at once, they congratulated the "couple," gave them hugs that lifted them off the ground, made a few uncouth comments that earned them smacks upside the head from Abigail, and said that they "had always known" that Dorcas and Marlene more-than-liked each other.

Dorcas laughed and replied to all of the congratulations and teasing with ease. Marlene replied by punching her brothers arms and shoving them out of the way until they opened up a space for her to get out of the mass of bodies. Derek, the brother closest in age to Marlene, pulled her aside as John and Phillip, the two oldest, decided that it was best to carry Dorcas up the stairs to hers and Marlene's childhood bedroom. Marlene laughed as Dorcas squealed her way up the stairs, before turning her attention to her brother, who grinned happily at her.

"I knew you'd both come to your senses eventually," Derek said before giving Marlene a crushing hug. Marlene squeezed her eyes shut and took a steadying breath, returning her brother's hug with force.

"Yeah, well…" Marlene trailed off, not sure of what to say on the subject. Instead, she only said, "I missed you a lot."

"Aw, sis," Derek pulled back but kept an arm around his sister as he led her into the kitchen, "I visited you and Dorcas last month, that's not enough time for you to miss me."

"Shut up." Marlene shrugged off his embrace, hip-checked him into the countertop, and made a beeline for the tea kettle. She quickly pressed a hand against it, found it still hot, and made tea for herself. While taking meticulous care to add the exact amount of milk and sugar she liked, she didn't realize that Dorcas had come into the kitchen until she heard her fake-girlfriend speak.

"Isn't it cute how she does that?" Dorcas quietly asked Derek in the way that a tourist would ask about a lion cub rolling around in grass. Marlene felt the tips of her ears blush, but she let out a small smile nonetheless.

"I mean, she's my baby sister, so I wouldn't say _cute_ so much as _weirdly particular,_ " Derek replied.

Marlene stuck her tongue out at him. " _Baby_ sister?" she questioned. "I'm, like, three years younger than you."

"Yeah, but I can remember when you were a baby," Derek argued. "That's what counts."

Marlene scoffed and took a long drink of tea.

"I'm on Derek's side for this," Dorcas announced with an amused smile.

"See!" Derek threw an arm around Dorcas. Being a full eleven inches taller than her, Derek made Dorcas look especially small, and Marlene had to laugh. Derek continued on, "Dorcas accepts that she qualifies to be a 'baby sister'."

Dorcas fondly smiled up at Derek. Marlene wondered whether Derek meant _sister_ because Dorcas had lived with them since she was 13, or because she and Marlene were supposedly dating. Either way, Dorcas seemed ecstatic to be called a sister, as she was every time anyone had ever referred to her as part of the McKinnon family. She was always in the annual Christmas card, after all, so she really was family.

Abigail popped her head into the kitchen. "Marlene, Dorcas, if either of you want a shower before church, you should get one now. It's just about five o'clock now; the service starts at six, and we'd like to be there by 5:50." She punctuated her announcement with a smile and left as quickly as she'd come.

Marlene and Dorcas groaned simultaneously.

"What?" Derek asked, looking back and forth between the two women.

"Church," Dorcas replied for the both of them as Marlene angrily finished her tea.

Derek laughed. "You two always forget about the Christmas Eve service, every single year."

"Yeah, well," Marlene began to hand wash her mug out, "when you only go to church on Christmas, you kind of forget that it exists outside of looking pretty and selling cakes occasionally."

"What church sells cakes?"

"The one in Tenby," Dorcas answered.

"Damn, I need to come to Tenby more often."

Marlene laughed as she shook the remaining water out of the mug and left it on the drying rack beside the sink.

"Well," Derek clapped Dorcas on the back, "if neither you nor Mickey have burst into flames for being queer by now, I doubt you ever will."

While Marlene simply rolled her eyes, Dorcas's screaming laughter echoed through the house.

* * *

"I hate church," Marlene mumbled as her family shuffled into a pew near the front of the large church only a few blocks down from her house.

"Same," Dorcas replied. Phil, the second oldest McKinnon child, nodded in agreement.

"At least the Christmas service is shorter than a regular service," Jill, who was married to the oldest McKinnon child, John, and five months pregnant, noted.

"True," Marlene nodded.

Mickey, the third oldest and one of the only actually religious McKinnon children, quietly shushed his siblings as the service began.

Thirty minutes, three hymns, and a short sermon about truly appreciating the Christmas season later, they were dismissed. As the family stepped out into the cold night to begin the walk home, Richard, the oldest after Derek, put his gloved hands onto Marlene's arms, then her forehead.

"Rich, the fuck are you doing?" she calmly asked.

"Language!" David called to her.

"Well," Richard replied, "you don't feel especially warm. I'd say you're safe from spontaneous combustion this time."

Marlene smacked his hands away as everyone around them laughed.

"What about me?" Mickey asked urgently, laughing. "Check me! Am I going to catch fire?"

Richard checked his temperature, asked him to open his mouth and say "ahh," then declared that Mickey too was safe from bursting into flames.

"Unless you stand by a fire," Jill chimed in. "That coat you're wearing looks flammable." Mickey cackled.

"Dorcas," Richard asked very seriously, "would you like me to check your temperature as well? Just to be safe?"

"I think I'll take my chances, thanks," Dorcas replied with a laugh.

"Yeah, Marlene will protect you," Richard smiled widely at Marlene, then Dorcas, who wrapped her arm around Marlene's waist. Playing along, and unapologetically liking the feeling of Dorcas close to her, Marlene slung an arm around Dorcas's shoulders and kissed the top of her head. Dorcas tensed for a moment, and Marlene worried that she had done something wrong until Dorcas leaned into her.

They walked the whole way back to the McKinnons' home like that. Marlene spent the entire walk trying to calm her fluttering heartbeat and internally berating herself for ever developing feelings for her best friend.

* * *

Dinner was a loud affair which took place about an hour after everyone arrived at the house. After the dining room had been intensely cleaned following a minor food fight between Dorcas, Derek, and Phil towards the end of the meal, everyone convened in the living room. Richard, of course, brought out his guitar and started to tune it while everyone got settled.

"Been practicing?" Dorcas asked with a small smile as she sat down beside him. Richard had picked up the guitar just after Dorcas had started living with the McKinnons, yet never practiced enough to master it.

"Actually," Richard replied with an amused smile, "I have been."

"Ah! For once!" Phil laughed as he settled onto the couch. "Maybe you'll get good enough that I'll actually allow you on stage at open mic night."

"As if I'd ever grace your pub with my presence," Richard stuck his tongue out like a five year old at his older brother.

"What have you been practicing?" Marlene inquired as she found a place on the floor, leaning against Phil's legs, as there was no other seating available.

"Some indie stuff, mostly just chords," Richard replied. "I have a few Christmas songs though! I quite like Lucy Rose's cover of _Merry Christmas Everyone,_ so I've been doing those chords a lot lately."

"I love that one!" Dorcas and Marlene proclaimed simultaneously, then laughed.

"I'll play that one then," Richard announced with a smile. "I can't sing for shit –"

"Language!" Abigail interrupted with a stern look.

Richard continued as if uninterrupted, though he did send an apologetic look towards his mother. "– So would you mind singing for me, Cassie? Since you know the song."

"Not at all," Dorcas beamed, as did Marlene. She knew that Dorcas _loved_ singing, and she herself loved listening to Dorcas sing.

The room grew very quiet as Richard played a few chords to get started. Dorcas started to sing when Richard nodded to her, skipping the opening vocalizations and going straight for the lyrics.

"Snow is falling," Dorcas sang softly but clearly, "all around me. Children playing, having fun. Tis the season of love and understanding. Merry Christmas, everyone."

Dorcas sang at a slightly lower tone than Lucy Rose did, but the song sounded beautiful nonetheless. Marlene was mesmerized, and it didn't help that Dorcas stared straight at Marlene when she sang.

"I'm gonna have a party tonight. I'm gonna find that girl," everyone laughed softly or smiled at Dorcas's smooth lyric change, "underneath the mistletoe and kiss by candlelight."

Something changed in Dorcas's eyes then, and Marlene couldn't make sense of it. Dorcas looked at Marlene with such intense fondness and love and something else entirely– the way that Marlene knew she often looked at Dorcas– but that didn't make any sense.

Dorcas looked away from Marlene, finally. Marlene continue to think as Dorcas sang, because now she was confused. Dorcas didn't like her back. She didn't. Dorcas was tactile and affectionate and friendly, but she had looked at Marlene in a more-than-friendly way just then, and– maybe there was something more. Maybe.

But maybe she was just playing along. Playing like they were dating, like they were more than friends. Just playing, that's what this was.

Marlene didn't want to get her hopes up. So she put those thoughts aside and tuned her hearing back towards the song as Dorcas repeated the chorus again with the same lyric change from "boy" to "girl," and Richard went into a nice instrumental bit.

Dorcas finished up the song with a long, vibrato note, and everyone applauded and cheered when Richard finished the outro. Dorcas blushed prettily and met Marlene's eyes again, as if searching for her approval specifically. Marlene grinned at her and gave her a thumbs up, and Dorcas smiled happily and looked around at everyone.

"Dorcas, that was great!" Phil praised. "You should come down to my pub on open mic night; I need some actually _talented_ people there."

"Next time we're there, I definitely will, Phil," Dorcas replied with a smile. Marlene was again struck, like a lovesick teenager, with how beautiful Dorcas was when she smiled. Telling her brain to shut up, Marlene closed her eyes and rubbed at the bridge of her nose.

"You alright, Marlene?" Phil put a hand on Marlene's shoulder and leaned towards her.

"Yeah, 'm fine, just tired," Marlene smiled up at him reassuringly. "I'm going to run upstairs and put on my pajamas, get out of this fancy church outfit. Be right back," she said to the room as she stood up. Dorcas cast a concerned look in her direction, but Marlene shook her head and smiled, silently assuring her that she was fine. Which was only a little lie.

Marlene took the stairs two at a time, then walked the short distance to her and Dorcas's room and shut the door silently behind her. Everything was exactly as she and Dorcas had had it when they were teenagers, and that was both a blessing and a curse. Marlene kicked off her nice heeled Oxfords, shimmied out of her thick stockings, and rid herself of her sweater dress and jewelry. She sighed happily as she stood, for only a moment, in just her undergarments, before pulling on an old Star Wars tee shirt, a pair of fuzzy socks, and her favorite plaid pajama bottoms. Marlene then took out her phone and quickly called Sirius Black's mobile phone, which she knew he had on him at all times because of his Instagram addiction.

" _Marls! Hello! How's home life treating you?_ "

"Just fine," Marlene replied quickly and quietly. "Listen, I need your help. Dorcas and I are pretending to date because of a thing that happened, and we didn't want to ruin Christmas for my family."

Sirius laughed his arse off for a solid minute, the bastard. She should've called Remus, but given that Sirius and Remus were dating and living together, Sirius probably would have heard anyway.

"Listen, you twat, I need your help!" Marlene whisper-shouted. "I'm fucking dying here! I'm in love with her! You know that, everyone fucking knows that, because I'm a hopeless bisexual who's been pining after her best friend for fucking ages. And I don't know how to handle this, because she keeps making eyes at me and looking at me and being really convincing at pretending that we're dating, and now I'm confused. Because what if she does like me, and I can't get my hopes up for that, because she _doesn't._ "

Sirius stopped laughing during the course of Marlene's rant. He knew when to be, well, serious. _"Marls, darling, I understand, I do."_

"Don't call me _darling,_ you sound like my mum." Marlene sat down on her twin bed and put a hand to her forehead.

" _I am your mum. And I really do understand. I pined after Moony for, what, five years before I got up the courage to just snog him."_

"I can't just _snog_ Cas though. Everyone knew that you and Remus liked each other. Dorcas is… she's the same with everyone. She's affectionate. That's just who she is."

" _Yeah, but Marls…"_ Sirius paused, thinking. Marlene could hear his even breathing. " _Okay, just… She's not going to abandon you if you tell her how you feel. She's your best friend. If she doesn't feel the same way, she's not going to say you can't be friends anymore. Just tell her. Get it off your chest. And explain to me when you get to my New Years party why the fuck you two are pretending to date in the first place, alright?"_

"Yeah, okay. Yeah. That makes sense. Okay."

" _You gonna be alright, Marls? You sound really torn up. You wanna talk to Moony?"_

Marlene nodded even though she knew that Sirius couldn't see her. "I'm alright, I'll be fine. Give Remus my love, but I can't talk. If I'm locked away in my room too long, they'll get worried."

" _Okay, Marls. You'll be okay."_

"Yeah."

" _And tell Cassie how you feel soon, yeah?"_

"Yeah."

" _Promise?"_

"Yes, I promise, you idiot."

" _Okay, just making sure. I'm the group mum, I have to make sure!"_

"Yes, _Mum_. Also isn't Amelia the group mum? Or Lily? Or even Remus?"

" _Amelia is_ clearly _vodka aunt. Remus isn't even a parent, he's the moody teenager. Lily is probably, like, health nut auntie."_

Marlene laughed. "Nice. I've gotta go now."

" _Have fun, and good luck, and maybe have a drink or three. I love you, Marls."_

"Yeah, yeah, love you too, Sirius."

Marlene hung up and plugged her phone in to charge before making her way back downstairs, trying to sort her thoughts out along the way.

* * *

The rest of the night consisted of sitting around the living room and chatting about their lives while munching on sweets of all kinds and, for about half of the group, nursing glasses of firewhiskey. Marlene, being a lightweight, abstained, as she didn't want to accidentally spill her feelings for Dorcas or do anything else she would come to regret. Dorcas, for some reason, also refrained from drinking, despite the fact that firewhiskey was one of her favorite things in the world. Marlene stayed about a meter away from Dorcas for her own sanity, fake relationship be damned.

Eventually, Derek broke out the cards, which only ever led to trouble with the McKinnon family. After a very rousing game of Spoons, in which Abigail expertly and mercilessly beat everyone in the room, Marlene decided to call it a night. Standing slowly, she barely managed to dodge her mother as she tapped all of her children's arms with two handfuls of spoons on her victory lap around the room.

Marlene loudly announced that she was going to bed, punctuating her sentence with a yawn for good measure. Mickey booed, and Marlene replied with two middle fingers and her tongue stuck out.

"I'll join you, Marley," Dorcas leapt up and took two steps over to Marlene. She lightly drummed her fingers against Marlene's lower back for a moment, and Marlene's shiver did not go unnoticed.

Marlene and Dorcas said their goodnights and kissed everyone's cheeks and almost made it out of the room safely before Derek called out to them, "Girls! Look up."

Marlene tilted her head backwards and found herself staring at mistletoe hanging in the doorway. Her blood ran cold, and she tried to laugh it off as she looked down at Dorcas, expecting her to be laughing as well. However, Dorcas stared up at her with the same odd look on her face that she'd had earlier. It was a soft look, one full of love, and before Marlene could think about it further, or even try to make up an excuse for why she and Dorcas wouldn't adhere to the rules of mistletoe, Dorcas took Marlene's head between her hands and surged up to kiss her.

And kiss her.

And kiss her.

Marlene's brain short-circuited for a few seconds before she replied in kind, carefully placing one hand on Dorcas's shoulder and the other on her cheek.

Friends don't kiss like this, even friends pretending to be girlfriends. And now Marlene was just confused.

"Okay, break it up, lovebirds!" Derek called out. Marlene and Dorcas separated, a blush spreading over Marlene's face and a satisfied grin over Dorcas's. They made eye contact for a moment, and something was changed between them.

"Get to bed, girls," David told them with a warm smile. "See you in the morning for Christmas."

Before she could reply, Marlene found herself being pushed up the stairs by Dorcas and into their shared room. Once they were in, Dorcas shut the door and leaned against it. She cast a serene smile at Marlene, who fell backwards onto her bed and stared at the ceiling, her thoughts going faster than she could keep up with them. Dorcas, following Marlene's lead, laid down on her own bed, which sat about a meter away from Marlene's. She turned onto her side to face Marlene and quietly said her name to get her attention. When Marlene didn't reply, Dorcas crossed the short distance from her bed to Marlene's and laid down beside Marlene, who moved over to accommodate her.

Marlene rolled onto her side to face Dorcas and sighed.

"Cas," she whispered, a subtly pained expression taking over features, "I can't do this. I can't– I can't pretend to be your girlfriend, for a silly joke that made no sense in the first place, when–" Marlene paused and closed her eyes, her courage leaving her for a moment, before she remembered what Sirius had said, that Dorcas would never leave her. She took a deep breath and continued, eyes still closed, "When I _actually_ want to be your girlfriend. And if you don't feel the same, that's fine, but I needed you to know." Marlene finally opened her eyes and found Dorcas's beaming at her.

"Marlene," Dorcas replied. "Oh, Marley, we've both been idiots, I think."

Marlene furrowed her brows, confused. "W-what do you mean?"

"I've loved you since I first saw you," Dorcas reached out a hand to play with a strand of Marlene's light blonde hair, and Marlene was quite sure she felt her heart stop. "I thought you didn't like me back, but… now you're saying that you do." Dorcas laughed quietly.

"Wait, you," Marlene sat up and leaned against the headboard, "you thought that I didn't like you back? I thought that _you_ didn't like _me_ back!"

"Marley," Dorcas laughed and joined her in leaning against the headboard, "I've been flirting with you since we were eleven. I even upped my game once we moved in together, but you never seemed to reciprocate."

"You're so friendly with everyone, I just thought that I was…" Marlene shrugged and winced, "like everyone else."

Dorcas leaned towards Marlene, much slower than she had under the mistletoe, and pressed a feather-light kiss to Marlene's lips. Marlene felt like she would combust from that small action. After a long moment, Dorcas pulled back slightly and whispered, "You're like no one else, Marley. You're like absolutely no one else."

Marlene felt tears welling up in her eyes, and Dorcas noticed them too.

"Aw, Marley," Dorcas laughed lightly and kissed Marlene again, then each of her cheeks. "Don't cry. I love you."

The tears tracked their way down Marlene's cheeks, but she laughed with relief. "I love you. Cas, I love you. Oh my god, we've both been so stupid, and I love you so much. I thought you didn't like me, so I just… I just tried to get over you. I never responded to your flirting because I thought that it didn't mean anything, that it was just you being you."

"I _am_ like that with everyone," Dorcas admitted. She laced her fingers through Marlene's and stared down at their hands. "But it was always different with you. I always loved you the most. I didn't make myself clear, and I'm sorry about that. I love you, Marley."

Fresh tears came spilling down Marlene's cheeks. Blushing, she laughed at herself.

"Marl _ene_ , c'mere," Dorcas brought Marlene's hands up and kissed them, then wrapped an arm around Marlene's shoulders and pulled her close. Marlene slid down slightly so that she could lay her head on Dorcas's shoulder.

"I'm sorry, I'm," Marlene wiped her tears away with the heels of her hands, "I feel like I'm gonna," she took a shaky breath, "like I'm gonna burst open. Is this real?"

Dorcas laughed. "Yeah, it's real. I love you."

They sat in silence for a few minutes, listening to each other breathing and the muffled sounds of yells and cheers from downstairs, before Marlene sat up suddenly, eyes wide.

"What are we gonna tell my family?" she asked. "About fake relationship versus actual relationship, since they never knew that the fake relationship was fake.

Dorcas thought on it for a moment, before replying, "Nothing?"

Marlene relaxed. "Okay, true."

"We'll tell them about this in five or so years."

"Good idea."

* * *

 **December 25** **th** **, 2015**

Marlene and Dorcas woke up on Christmas morning wrapped around each other in Marlene's bed, under her regular blankets and two quilts which had not been there before. Marlene picked at one of the quilts and recognized it.

"These are usually in Mum and Dad's room," she told Dorcas. "Mum must have come to check on us while we were sleeping."

Dorcas laughed quietly. "She's sweet." She kicked her side of the covers onto Marlene as she sat up and rubbed the sleep from her eyes.

"She's nosy," Marlene corrected. With a grin, she looped an arm around Dorcas's waist and pulled her back down. Dorcas's screeched in shock, then began laughing. She wrapped her arms around Marlene's neck and kissed her deeply, smiles still on both of their faces.

When Dorcas pulled away a long moment later, she whispered, "Merry Christmas, girlfriend."

"Girlfriend?" Marlene repeated with a bit of surprise.

Dorcas paused. "Is… is that okay?"

Marlene nodded immediately. "Yeah, of course, I just…," her smile grew wider, "Girlfriend. I'm your girlfriend."

Dorcas went in for another kiss, but was interrupted by a pounding at the door.

"I know you two are awake in there," Derek shouted, "and Mum says we can't have breakfast until everyone's awake, and we can't open presents until after breakfast, so you two better get your arses out here!"

Marlene rolled her eyes and sat up, pulling Dorcas up with her. "You'd never know he's twenty nine fucking years old when he acts like he's still twelve."

"Whoever said we have to be grown-up all the time?" Dorcas pointed out.

Marlene kissed her again. "That's a good point."

"COME _ON!"_ Derek screamed.

Marlene tossed her pillow at the door. "SHUT UP! WE'RE COMING!"

" _QUICKLY!"_

"SHUT! _UP_!"

Dorcas rolled her eyes, laughed quietly, and managed to dodge Marlene's hands when she stood. "Derek will burst in here in about a minute if we're not out there by then." She quickly leaned in and pressed kiss to Marlene's lips, then danced away. She exchanged her sleep shorts and tank top for her cat onesie and a pair of grey ankle socks, then pulled her hood up and turned to Marlene, who still sat on the bed, staring at Dorcas with a dazed look on her face. Marlene sat up straighter and beamed at Dorcas when she realized that Dorcas had noticed her staring.

"C'mon, Marley," Dorcas smiled, "get dressed."

Marlene jumped up and pulled a pair of pajama bottoms on, then one of her many Christmas jumpers. She let Dorcas pull her up, and they went to the door with joined hands. Just as Marlene was about to open the door for Dorcas, Derek threw it open, shrieking, "WAKE UP!" He stilled when he noticed Marlene and Dorcas, awake and dressed and laughing at him.

"Oh," he said, lamely, "well, come on then, downstairs. Dad's making omelets!" Like a child, Derek jumped in excitement and galloped down the stairs.

Marlene tried to follow, but was caught and pulled back by Dorcas, who lightly pushed her against the wall by the door to their room and kissed her soundly. Dorcas had to get on her tiptoes and pull Marlene down towards her slightly for their lips to be able to meet, and that made Marlene oddly happy.

Mickey rushed by and knocked Dorcas's hood off of her head. "Quit snogging and get downstairs or I'll eat both your breakfasts!"

Dorcas broke away from Marlene and flipped him off. When she turned back to Marlene, the taller girl pulled her hood back up for her and gave her a final kiss.

"Merry Christmas… girlfriend," Marlene said with a smile.

"Merry Christmas," Dorcas replied. "C'mon, let's get downstairs before Mickey actually _does_ steal our omelets."

"I'll hurt him if he does," Marlene promised darkly as she led the way down the stairs and towards her family for the beginning of the Christmas festivities.

"Also," Mickey added from the bottom of the stairs, looking up at Dorcas and Marlene with a wicked grin, "Derek posted a photo on his Instagram of you and Cassie kissing under the mistletoe!" He ran away and sought shelter immediately after his announcement, knowing what would come.

Marlene flew down the stairs, screaming Derek's name, with Dorcas rushing after her, her laughter echoing.

* * *

 **December 31** **st** **, 2015**

"So," Remus asked, looking rather serious sitting on one of his many couches, legs crossed, a bottle of butterbeer in hand, and a confused look on his face, "tell me again how you two came to become the actual embodiment of _fake relationship trope_ and ended up _actually_ realizing that you're both disgustingly in love with each other?"

"Mum called, misunderstood a situation," Marlene summarized, having just spent the better part of half an hour explaining the story in detail to James, Sirius, and Peter.

Dorcas broke in. "I proposed that we pretended to be a couple so that we wouldn't ruin Abigail's Christmas, but what I really wanted was to win over Marlene's affections." She leaned into her girlfriend and looked up at her with fondness.

"You two are gross," Remus decided. He stood up and started to walk away. Marlene slapped his leg as he went by.

"Not like you and Sirius were any better when you started dating!" she called after him.

It only took one look between Marlene and Dorcas for them to read each others thoughts and take Remus's place on the couch, which sat against the wall and had an excellent view of everything going on in the party.

Remus and Sirius hosted a New Years Eve party every single year. They'd done it in the common room at the boarding school which they had all attended; they'd done it across the whole floor of their uni accommodations, and their entire friend group had always descended upon it from their own universities all across England; now they held it in their obscenely large flat in London, which they had only been able to afford because of some loaded uncle or great uncle of Sirius's who had died and left Sirius all of his money, as Sirius had been fundamentally disowned by his asshole family and left with nothing when he was sixteen.

The party was always a huge success, and all of their closest friends were _always_ there. This year was no exception. From her spot on the very comfortable couch, Marlene could see James and Sirius egging Peter on to do shots with them, Lily chatting to Sirius's cousin Andromeda and her husband Ted, and Amelia attempting to help Remus hook up his homemade papier mache ball, about the size of a football, which would drop from the ceiling at midnight and crack open to reveal all sorts of different sweets. Nymphadora, Andromeda and Ted's twelve year old daughter who would glare if she heard anyone call her Nymphadora and dyed her hair a different color every week (it was neon pink tonight), stood nearby, ready to offer her help to Remus if he needed it. The girl had harbored a crush on Remus for as long as Marlene could remember; it was quite sweet, really, and a little funny.

A number of other people milled about, mostly teachers from the primary school which Sirius and Remus taught at. Marlene looked around and, just as she began to wonder where little Harry Potter was, the six year old in question came running up to Marlene and Dorcas and launched himself across their laps.

"Auntie Marls, Auntie Cassie!" Harry turned over onto his back and stretched out over Marlene and Dorcas's laps.

"Hello, Harry!" Dorcas grinned and pulled Harry up to hug him tightly. After a moment, Harry moved away from Dorcas and wrapped his arms around Marlene's neck.

"We missed you," Marlene told the boy fondly.

"Missed you too!" Harry replied as he not-so-subtly wiggled around, meaning for Dorcas and Marlene to separate so that he could sit between them, which they did. Harry wrapped both of his arms around Dorcas's arm, then leaned his head against Marlene's arm. "When can I come back to the bookshop?"

"Soon as summer's here," Marlene kissed the top of his head, "we'll come pick you up and take you away for a week or two. How's that sound?"

"Sounds nice, Auntie Marls," Harry nodded. "Dad said that you and Auntie Cassie are _together_ now. Does that mean you're dating, like Padfoot and Moony?"

"Mm hmm," Dorcas replied. "It does. How do you feel about that?"

"Does this mean that you guys are going to be all kissy like Mum and Dad? And Padfoot and Moony?"

Marlene snorted. "Yeah, probably. You still want to come to Tenby if we're going to be _all kissy_?"

"Well, yeah," Harry said as if it was obvious. "You guys let me have _way_ more ice cream than Mum and Dad do, and you have all the cool movies, and you live really close to the beach."

Dorcas laughed loudly at Harry's reasoning and complimented him on it.

"Harry!" Lily called to her son with a smile, "come tell Mrs. Tonks about your football match on last week!"

Harry leapt up and sprinted across the room, eager to tell anyone and everyone about how he scored the winning goal in his little league match and made his football coach father so happy that he ran onto the field, lifted young Harry up over his head, and ran victory laps with all the other little league players, of both teams, chasing after him. Of course, even if Harry's team had lost, James would have been happy that Harry had played his best, and probably still would have done victory laps anyway.

Dorcas snuggled back up to Marlene as soon as Harry had gone. She wrapped one arm around Marlene's shoulders, draped her legs across Marlene's lap, and used her other hand to play with a strand of Marlene's hair which had fallen out of her braid. Marlene shut her eyes and sighed, content with listening to the dull roar of the party and the NYE mix which Sirius had spent the better part of December assembling with great care. _Next Year_ by Two Door Cinema Club was currently playing.

Marlene only realized that she had fallen asleep when Dorcas woke her with gentle, open-mouthed kisses to her neck and jaw. Marlene awoke with a shiver and smiled serenely at her girlfriend.

"How long was I out?" Marlene sat up to crack her back and rubbed her eyes to try and help with the blurriness.

"A little under an hour," Dorcas replied. She still had her legs draped over Marlene's lap, until she quickly moved to sit on Marlene's lap entirely. Marlene kissed her quickly, then Dorcas leapt up and held a hand out to Marlene. "It's almost midnight. Sirius is about to do the countdown, and Remus will drop the ball which is basically a glorified piñata, and hopefully there won't be any condoms in it like last year because Harry is here and he is definitely old enough to know what a condom is this year." Marlene laughed loudly and let Dorcas pull her up. Marlene draped an arm around Dorcas's shoulders, and they walked towards the crowd at the opposite side of the flat.

Everyone stood in a circle around the space where the ball would drop, leaving a solid three meter diameter space for the splatter zone. Marlene and Dorcas found a spot behind James and Lily. Harry stood directly in front of his parents, anxiously waiting for the ball drop so that he could be the first to go for the candy. Nymphadora stood by Remus, who had untied the rope which held the large ball in place and was holding it tightly with both hands. With a grin, Remus held the rope out to Dora so that she could be the one to release the ball at midnight. Dora took it and thanked Remus profusely as Sirius began the countdown.

Sirius climbed up onto the kitchen counter, barefoot so as not to scuff the smooth marble, and grandly began his countdown, arms outstretched beside him. "Ten, nine, eight," Dora pulled the rope down a bit so that the ball was as high as possible, "seven, six, five," Harry started bouncing on his toes, too excited to handle himself, "four," everyone started chanting along with Sirius, "three, two, ONE! HAPPY NEW YEAR!" Sirius jumped off the counter and landed on the hardwood floor with an enormous _boom._ Nymphadora let the ball drop to the floor with a _crack,_ and all the candy came spilling out (with, thankfully, no condoms, only sweets). Harry, Dora, Peter, Amelia, and a few others dove for the candy, but everyone let Harry and Dora have most of it. The rest of the adults kissed their boyfriends, girlfriends, husbands, wives, and a few people just kissed their friends.

At the exact moment of midnight, Marlene kissed Dorcas's forehead. When she pulled away, Dorcas wrapped both of her arms around Marlene's neck and only stared up at her for a moment.

"What?" Dorcas asked with an amused smile. "You're looking at me weird, Marley."

"Just…" Marlene thought carefully about her words, "admiring you. This is still so amazing. I don't feel like it's real. I don't feel like we're real, because I'm so happy. So… in love."

"Marley," Dorcas's smile grew, "we're real. And we're happy. And I love you so much. We're real. It took us a fucking long time to realize it, but we're real."

With that, Dorcas got up on her tip-toes so that she could kiss Marlene deeply and slowly, about a minute after midnight, to reassure her that they were real.

They separated a few seconds later when Harry Potter knocked against them as he sprinted away with his loot of sweets. Peter chased after him, pretending that he would steal Harry's chocolates, but, when he finally caught Harry, he handed him a jumbo-sized chocolate frog from his pocket. Harry laughed happily and jumped onto Peter's back, demanding a piggy back ride to celebrate the new year. Remus and Sirius were not-so-subtly still vaguely making out in the kitchen while also searching for a bottle of champagne and making a pot of tea, Amelia was trading Dora a box of Bertie Botts Every Flavor Beans for three licorice wands, James was chasing Peter and Harry around the room, and Lily had taken it upon herself to start the clean up of the papier mache ball. It had started to snow outside, very lightly.

Sirius found the champagne; Remus made tea for everyone who wanted it; together they passed out beverages to everyone. Dorcas and Marlene both took champagne flutes.

With matching smiles, they _clink_ ed their glasses together and rang in 2016 with champagne kisses and promises to be happy and real and grossly in love this year.

* * *

 **Aren't they so cute and gross and in love? I love them too much.**

 **Happy holidays and happy new year! Here's hoping that 2016 is as good for all of us as it will be for Marlene and Dorcas!**

 **Pls leave a review if you liked it :)**


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